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This is part of an article published on Telstra Business. Full article link below.

After twelve years of growing his business planning and management software publishing business, Peter Hickey decided to sell MAUS Business System to a multi-national corporation, neat! Four years later, he was approached to buy back the company, which he did. Here’s what Peter, who won Australian Telstra Entrepreneur of the Year in 1999, has to share about his experience selling, buying back and rebuilding a brand.

Founded in 1990, Maus Business Systems started as a management consultancy.I built it up, developed methodologies – questions and systems – and turned it into software products. We became the first business in the world to offer business planning software product under $300. Our products have now expanded to include human resources training programs and business exit strategy education programs.

We took risks in marketing to build our brand and make it what it was. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have gotten where we were. We were stocked in retailers such as Harvey Norman but also marketed directly to SMEs. We spent $6,000 per month on fax broadcasting, $40,000 per month on magazine advertising and we had TV spots on Sundays, and also radio advertising. We monitored every source, and our strategy was simple, if it worked we’d double the spend until it stopped working.